In the National Hockey League there are two sets of standards: one for the star players and one for everyone else. At least that is the opinion of Minnesota forward Chris Simon after Anaheim defencemen Chris Pronger was given an eight-game suspension for stomping on the leg of Vancouver forward Ryan Kessler. "I think it's definitely not fair," Simon told the Minnesota Pioneer-Press. "My opinion is there's obviously two sets of rules." Simon, himself, was suspended for 30 games back in December for stomping on the ankle of Pittsburgh forward Jarkko Ruutu. It was the longest suspension in the NHL history. "If you look at the (video) tape and look at his history, you can't say we're different, other than he's a star player and I'm not." Pronger, a five-time All-Star and the 2000 Hart trophy winner as league's Most Valuable Player, has now been suspended eight times in his career - the same number as Simon. "Because you look at the evidence, at the tape of both cases," Simon added. "You have to put in the facts of both players being suspended (previously), and I'm being treated unfairly. The tape proves it all, and his history proves it all. I have nothing against the other players, I just want to be treated fairly, and in this case I don't think I have been." Colin Campbell, NHL senior vice-president and the man responsible for handling league discipline, denies that Simon is being treated unfairly. "[Simon's] skate drop on the Pittsburgh player was in a totally different context than Chris Pronger's," Campbell told the Pioneer-Press in an email. "Mr. Simon can state his opinion. Our job is to assess what we feel is fair and right. If Chris didn't do what he has done, he wouldn't need to complain about how we handle discipline."
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